The five levels

For convenience, OHTA considers training needs at five levels, as shown in the diagram.

• Managers, supervisors, union representatives and employees need an awareness of health hazards and risks in the workplace and how they can be controlled to provide a safe working environment

• Specialists in areas like health and safety, occupational medicine and nursing should understand the basic principles of occupational hygiene so that they can deal with simple problems and know when to call in a specialist.  This can lead to an international qualification at the Foundation level

• Technicians and technologists working in occupational hygiene require the technical knowledge and hands-on, practical training at Intermediate level that will enable them to take measurements, assess exposure and check the effectiveness of control measures.

• Specialists with responsibility for designing and delivering the occupational hygiene programmes in a workplace will need to study at the academic level.  This will give them a deep understanding of the scientific basis of occupational hygiene as well as a high level of technical skills, and can lead to professional qualifications.

• Senior occupational hygienists operating at management levels within large organisations or in consultancies need to have leadership skills in addition to mastery of the technical and professional skills.  They will need additional training in areas such as management, communication and finance.